Caster.



UNITED STATES PALIENT OFFICE.

ILA-REY A. PALMER, OF MEBIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO FOSTER, MERBIA'M AND COMPANY, OF MERIDEN,

CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

CASTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 13, 1911.

Patented Apr. 1 6. 1912.

Serial No. 665,519.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. PALMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meriden, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Casters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive caster adapted ,for eneral use and especially adapted for use in connection with metal furniture legs, which shall be self-retaining in place by spring pressure and will be held in the leg against lateral movement atboth bottom and top, thereby doing awaywith the necessity for a cupped washer to retain the caster in lace.

With these and other objects in view I have devised the simple and novel caster which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is an elevation of my novel caster as in use, the furniture leg being shown in section and the washer fiat and of even diameter with the leg, Fig. 9. an elevation as seen from the left in Fig. 1 and showing an enlarged downwardly curved washer in section; Fig. 3 a similar view, the washer being in elevation and provided with rounded corrugations; Figs. l and 5 are plan views of different types of washers provided with rounded corrugations; Fig. 6 a section on the line -6 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 7 is a perspective of the spring yoke detached.

l0 denotes a furniture leg which may be tubular or provided with acentrul opening, ll the caster pintle, 12 the horn and 13 the wheel which may be of any suitable material as metal. wood, glass, felt or rubber. The horn may be of any ordinary or prc ferrcd constrlu-tion and may be cithcy rust or made of sheet metal. The lower ciid of the pintlc is riveted or otherwise rigidly sc cured to the horn. Above the yoke is :i hearing 14 which may be formed in any suitable manner as by one or more washers or by upsetting the metal of the pintlc. A washer 15 rests upon this hearing and turns freely on the pintle. For ordinary low priced castors it is sulliciont to use a lint washer of the same diameter us'thc furniture leg, as in Fig. 1. When a better finish for the leg is desired 1 use an inverted concavo-convex washer which is made large enough to extend outward from the leg and to conceal the top of the horn. Either type of washer may or may not be provided with rounded corrugations 16, as in Figs. 3, 4 and '5.

The essentially novel feature of the invention is a pair of spring arms indicated by 17 which engage the inner periphery of the furniture leg. These spring arms are preferably made in the form of a spring yoke, indicated by 18, from a continuous strl of metal having a hole 19 at the center ol the base through which the pintle passes freely, the. yoke resting upon the washer. The central portion of the strip comprises the base of the yoke and the spring arms are bent upward from the ends thereof. The uppef ends of'the arms, when free, spring outward from the base, as shown in Fig. 6, so as to provide ample spring. pressure, when they a re pressed inward, to retain the caster in place in a furniture leg. The spring yoke 15 so proportioned that the edges of t e lower ends of the spring arms just enter the furniture log freely, the purpose of which is to rovide a continuous engagement of the spring arms with the inner periphery of the log or an engagement of the spring arms with the leg at separated points, it being important that the spring arms engage the inner periphery of the yoke at separated points or else continuously so as to prevent lateral motion of the caster as a whole and insure a lirm hold of the spring yoke upon the inner periphery of the leg. The upper ends of the spring arms are bent inward and then upward. as at 20. and said ends are retained within a cup indicated by 21, said cap bring loosely retained on the pintle by a head 22 which may be formed by upsetting the 0nd of the piulle. The gap is inex pt-nsirvly formed, ordinarily by blanking out and 'l orming from short metal. its use is to limit. the out ward movenu-nt of the spring arms whrn the raster is detached.

The operation will be obvious from the drawing. 'lluroster is altar-hell or removed by a single mon-nu-nt and is self-retaining in pluro. the spring arms of the yoke yielding when the yoke is inserted in the leg and the t'dgrs ol the spring arms engaging the inner poripluu'ypl the lug. thereby holding preferred, as in Figs.

the (Easter is a whole against lateral movement at both top and bottom. The entire weight carried by the by the washer. Owing to the fact that lateral movement of the caster is wholly prevented by the spring yoke, cupped washers to retain the casters in place are dispensed with, a fiat washer the diameter of the furniture legvbeing all that is required although ornamental forms may be used if 2 and 3. 4

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. In a caster, the combination with a pint-1e, horn and washer, of spring arms loosely connected to the lower end of the pintle and extending upward, and a cap carried by the pintle for limiting the outcaster is supported ward movement of the "spring arms when the caster is detached.

2. In a caster, the combination with' 'ia pintle, horn and washer, of lspringarms oosely connected to the lower end of the pintle and extending upward, the upper ends of said arms being bent inward and then upward and a cap loosely engagingithe pintle and acting to limit the outward movement of the spring arms when the caster is detached.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses HARRY A. PALMERJ' Witnesses:

BLAINE Coooms, CHAS. S. TRILEAX. 

